Antwerp, Belgium, has a long history of great artists, including Peter Paul Rubens, Antoon Van Dyck, Jacob Jordaens and Brueghel. A visit to any one of the museums is quite an experience, even for an art-neophyte like myself!
Peter Paul Rubens
Want to go on an icy ride in the heart of Canada’s glacier country? Would you like to walk on a glacier? I did both on a Columbia Icefield Glacier Experience near Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada.
The Ice Explorer lurched onto Athabasca Glacier as the giant Terra tires gripped the ice. When the 56-passenger snow vehicle stopped, I walked out onto the glacial ice to discover an uneven surface that revealed a living, breathing sheet of frozen water.
There are plenty of places in the world where you can view glaciers. In Alaska, travelers observe the frozen fingers of ice from the deck of a cruise ship. Seeing the Franz Josef and Fox Glacier in New Zealand requries a hike that ends close to the terminus of the glacial sheets of ice. But in Canada, the easy journey to Athabasca Glacier via Ice Explorer takes you directly onto the glacier’s surface.
When I boarded the Ice Explorer at the Columbia Icefield Visitor’s Center, I looked across at Athabasca Glacier as it flowed like an icy tongue from the Columbia Icefield. During the 90-minute ride, a driver-guide told me that the 8 glaciers of the Columbia Icefield provide meltwater that eventually flows into three oceans—Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific. But the highlight was slip-sliding on the glacier’s ancient surface with my own two feet.
That early October afternoon, I felt like a child riding on a giant bouncy bus. The real children on my tour enjoyed it too. And the photographers snapped away at the glacier’s white expanse reflected against a deep blue sky.
After a day of sight-seeing on the Icefields Parkway by car or bus, the journey up Athabasca Glacier provided a fun break.
If you go:
Columbia Icefield Glacier Experience
Tour operates every 15-30 minutes from April to October
2010 rates: Adult (16+) $49.00 and Child (6-15) $24.00
Review by Donna L. Hull, My Itchy Travel Feet
All photos by Donna L. Hull
I am traveling to Paris next spring to celebrate a major birthday, and my entire trip is about eating and experiencing French food. As I was thinking about the itinerary, the more special, local food I discovered, the happier I became! Here are my top 5 must-dos in Paris for my perfect Paris food adventure:
French Brasserie
I really wish, considering how things turned out, that I had a great story as to how I found London Walks.
But the hard truth is, I was looking for a tax deduction. My husband’s company sent him to Europe for a series of meetings, and since it wasn’t going to cost them any extra to stash me in the hotel rooms, I bought an airline ticket and tagged along.
International airline tickets on my independent journalist income weren’t exactly compatible at that point. Not to mention two weeks without working would really decrease the checks coming in to cover that airline ticket. So my goal was to find stories to pitch and recoup part of the investment.
But wandering around London on your own isn’t terribly enlightening, unless you think someone wants to read about the ridiculous prices you found at Harrod’s in the appliance section. Or where to find the cheapest sandwich in Covent Garden. Somewhere in my wanderings, I came across a flyer for London Walks tours and figured for the 5 pounds it wouldn’t be a stellar tour — but if I picked up a few ideas it would be worth it.
London Walks' Graham
Besides, you didn’t have to commit in advance — just show up at the meeting place and pay the guide. If it looked weird or off, I could pretend I was waiting on a friend. I love the chicken-out option. So I arrived at the Tube station meeting spot for the Mayfair walk with Graham (who is still doing this particular itinerary, hint, hint), determined he wasn’t a pervert, and dumped the change in his hand. We set off for two hours of the most lively tour of my life. Graham made the people behind those buildings come alive, he deftly wove in history in storybook form. He even sang for us, in a beautiful tenor.
I’m telling you, when this man pointed out the London Stone, I cared, which is more than Edward Rutherford managed to do in his 800-page novel about the city.
Next night, I was on the Pub Tour walk, learning the secrets behind the walls of what looked like ordinary bars along the Thames. That was all I could cram in on that trip, but when I returned with friends in 2004, I printed a list of tours from the Internet with a strong recommendation they join me on one.
Jack the Ripper tour
They didn’t bite. Following a guide around and stopping every few feet to hear another obscure detail didn’t exactly move them. But the 16-year-old boy in their family did say he’d tag along when he caught the words “Jack the Ripper” between my husband and I. Apparently, anything would beat sitting around in a Chelsea hotel with his sister.
We had the good luck to arrive on a night when Donald Rumbelow himself was leading visitors through the dark streets, exploring the dastardly deeds of the Ripper, speculating his mindset, analyzing his motives. It was creepy. It was gory. It was fascinating. And one teen-age boy ate it up. To this day, he still recalls huge chunks of the drama and will debate who did it.
Which is an even better investment of two hours and a few pounds than a tax deduction.
Photography: cookipedichef (Flickr), London Walks
Chinatown in Vancouver lies between Yaletown and Centennial Pier. A colorful and historically rich area of Vancouver, Chinatown is well worth a visit.
Our family of four took the bus in from the other side of Vancouver, down Pender Street, the main thoroughfare of Chinatown. After passing through the welcoming Millennium Gate, we noticed ourselves immersed in the Chinese culture of Canada.
Vancouver Chinatown Millennium Gate
Chasing Rainbows at the Cave of the Winds
Where are you guaranteed to see a rainbow on a sunny day? Why, Niagara Falls of course. The sun glistening on thick mist provides rainbows so plentiful they named the bridge spanning the river after them. If you would like to chase these rainbows and get up close and personal with the falls that create them, the Cave of the Winds is just for you.
The Breakers - Newport, RI
By Molly G. @ The Bumbles Blog
Have you ever wondered how the other half lives? Newport is known for being a playground of the rich. It was home to The America’s Cup for yachting and boasts the International Tennis Hall of Fame. But if not for the millionaires of the Industrial Revolution, it just might have become another sleepy ocean town in the smallest state of the U.S.A.
High society families in the second half of the 1800’s flocked to Newport to build homes for summer retreats and like all good people with money to burn they went above and beyond to out-do each other . Today you can tour many of these mansions set in a row like a parade of wealth, but the biggest of them all is The Breakers, built by Cornelius Vanderbilt II in 1895.
The wealth and opulence of the Vanderbilt family is in full display via a new self-guided audio tour where you listen to memories of a gilded time as told by some of the relatives and servants who experienced The Breakers first hand. The mansion comes to life with the sound effects and background music making it Read More »
Zebra - The Dallas Zoo in Dallas, Texas
Covering ninety-five acres and encompassing thousands of animals, The Dallas Zoo is the largest zoo in Texas, and the first in the entire south west, having been founded in 1888. Keeping up with the times, this zoo is involved in conservation and breeding programs for numerous endangered species and has a new innovative device called the Zoo Ranger TM, which allows visitors to tour the park with their own special electronic guide.
With behind the scenes viewpoint, trivia questions and quizzes, the Zoo Ranger TM also has GPS signal-triggered technology that gives you information as you pass certain spots, teaching you more specifics about the exhibits and animals you see. It also shows maps of the zoo and points out locations like the cafes, restrooms or gift shops. It’s only $6.95, lightweight and self-paced. Soon they will be adding Spanish and American Sign Languages to the video! This device is the second best thing to a personal tour with a zoo keeper.
Elephant - The Dallas Zoo in Texas
Another way to view the park, or the African exhibit specifically, is by Monorail Safari. The 20-minute tours guide you through six African habitats. You can also stroll to your heart’s delight down nature trails but you might need to rent strollers, double-strollers, wagons or wheelchairs to get around easier, all of which are available through the main offices.
Right now the Sting Ray Bay exhibit has been extended and will stay until November 30th. Here you can touch and feed sting rays in a shallow tank, and don’t worry, their barbs have been clipped. There is also a Sponge Bob 3-D Adventure Motion Ride that accompanies these sting rays.
The zoo is open daily from 9am-4pm and only closed Christmas Day. Admission costs $10 for adults and $7 for seniors or children. If you live in the DFW metro area or are in Dallas on vacation, this zoo is worth a full day’s visit, if not more.
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